IN RECOGNITION OF

THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS CONFERENCE

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, in the summer of 1950, historical novelist Inglis Fletcher and University of North Carolina Press director Lambert Davis invited North Carolina’s writers to gather in Manteo and meet informally as a writers’ conference; and

WHEREAS, writers Paul Adler, Huntington Cairns, Chalmers G. Davidson, Paul Green, John Harden, Gerald W. Johnson, Josephine Niggli, John Parris, William T. Polk, William Meade Prince, Marian Sims, Betty Smith, and James Street accepted that invitation and joined Inglis Fletcher and Lambert Davis in Manteo on August 8, 1950; and

WHEREAS, the group attended The Lost Colony as “Celebrity Night” guests to share their thoughts on being writers in the Old North State, their views on literature, their experiences with editors and publishers, and other insights into the craft of writing; and

WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the weekend, the writers felt their meeting of kindred spirits had been inspirational and useful enough to meet again and organized themselves as the North Carolina Writers Conference; in the summer of 1951 in Cherokee, the tradition of meeting annually at locations across the state started; and

WHEREAS, the members of the original Conference invited other Tar Heel writers, thereby encouraging the remarkable community of writers in North Carolina; today, close to 400 Tar Heels are members of the Conference, and regularly share their talents with their fellow residents of North Carolina, not only through their published works, but also through readings, workshops, classes, library and civic programs, community outreach, and other offerings; and

WHEREAS, members of the Conference have been recognized as some of the state’s and nation’s leading writers, bringing distinction to North Carolina; beginning with the appointment of Sam Ragan in 1982 as the North Carolina Poet Laureate, every subsequent Laureate has been a member of the Conference; and

WHEREAS, the Conference celebrates its 75-year history, presents readings and panels, recognizes the seminal work of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, and honors former North Carolina Poet Laureate, Joseph Bathanti;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim July 19, 2024, as a day “IN RECOGNITION OF THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS CONFERENCE” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

________________________________________

Roy Cooper

Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twelfth day of July in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

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